


shelter

by murakamism



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon Era, Canon-Typical Violence, Ereri Week, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, acwnr spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-04-03 02:41:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4083574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murakamism/pseuds/murakamism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He doesn’t care that this might be irresponsible. There is something softer he needs right now, before he implodes, and Eren is by his side. Eren knows. Eren can tell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	shelter

**Author's Note:**

> **For Ereri Week Day Six: Storm**
> 
> if u like emotional levi and inappropriately-timed sex & cuddling, then this is the fic for u

Levi’s horse thunders through the mud. He clenches his jaw, harsh rain pelting at his skin and seeping through his clothes. With the howling wind and unrelenting rain he can barely see anything in front of him. He can hear titans lumbering around in the distance, but right now they’ve spared him.

At one point he’d gotten separated from his squad and the rest of the corps. His horse gallops fiercely, but he can tell it has trouble running through the harsh rain.

He steers it away from a corpse at the last moment. Levi spares the body a glance. It’s unrecognizable, with only the hips and legs remaining intact, so he urges his horse on to continue running.

With each agonizing minute he grows more and more tense, gripping the reins tighter than needed. The wind is wild, throwing around the whipping rain.

It reminds Levi of his first expedition. The weather had been the same, and he’d also been alone, and he’d also come across corpses.

He cuts himself off, not wanting to think about it any further. But the memory resurfaces anyway and starts to put him in a black mood, his chest growing tight. The guilt that used to gnaw at his gut has turned to a fear creeping up his throat.

Where is everyone?     

How many of them are dead?

A familiar roar rings out in the distance, somewhere to his right. Levi looks up but sees nothing. Still, he can hear Eren fighting if he strains his ears.

He rides his horse towards the noise, towards Eren. A titan flies above his head, its limbs ripped off.

Eren’s large titan body finally comes into view. Levi directs his horse to the safety of a tree and leaps into the air, slices at an incoming titan’s nape.

Eren doesn’t seem to notice him. Levi approaches closer and closer, hacking away at giant hands that come up to grasp at him. He grits his teeth and spins through the rain, his cloak heavy with water.

Levi cuts deadly strikes with more precision. He shoots away from a titan’s mouth, swings to cut at another titan’s nape. Eren continues wrestling with smaller ones, although Levi can see that he’s alone and they’re about to be outnumbered.

They’re going to die if they keep this up.

“Eren!” Levi screams, propelling himself forward. He swings into Eren’s view just after the boy throws off a pesky ten-meter class. Eren’s ears twitch and he looks at his captain, grunting.

“Eren,” Levi repeats, swinging onto his shoulder. He grips the strands of Eren’s long hair and yells over the rain, speaks into Eren’s giant ear. “We’re outnumbered. Retreat.”

The titan-shifter grunts, fending away another titan’s mouth, before ripping away its nape and running off. Levi almost tumbles off his shoulder but holds on tight.

He whistles, again and again, until he sees his horse coming over to follow them. Eren’s steps are large and rumbling. Levi slices at the titans that come too close, tells Eren to focus on getting them away.

The titans start to dwindle right as a copse of trees comes into view.

“There!” Levi screams, and Eren nods, catching his words. Levi leaps off of Eren’s shoulders and finishes off some of the titans following them. Eren follows suit, grumbling as he squashes a speedy seven-meter class.

It’s only when they’ve cleared the area – for now – that Eren and Levi continue heading for the trees. Levi’s horse follows them, galloping near Eren’s side as Levi rides on the boy’s shoulder.

Levi leaps down from Eren’s shoulder and into a tree as the boy slowly enters the grove. The earth shakes as he gets down on his knees and folds himself on the ground.

Eren lies down, legs tucked underneath him, the side of his giant face pressed against the grass. He prostrates himself, his large eyes following Levi’s movements.

The captain slowly makes his way to Eren’s nape. The rain is still strong, but the thick trees provide them with enough cover that it’s little more than just a nuisance.

Levi carefully cuts Eren out of his titan form. He helps the boy out of the sticky flesh, squinting at the sudden burst of steam. Rain comes down on them, and Eren almost tumbles to the ground.

He manages to keep himself upright, though. Levi directs him to the cover of some closely-grown trees. The captain’s horse waits underneath a large trunk a few feet away, snorting to itself.

Levi carefully sets Eren down. He pulls up the boy’s hood and settles down next to him, gathering his cloak closer towards his body. Eren’s eyes are half-lidded but he smiles sleepily at his captain, green eyes twinkling in the shade.

“Why are you smiling like that?” Levi asks, his voice gruff. Eren sighs and leans forward, tugging Levi closer. His legs are too long so he curls them up, tree trunk at his side, and Levi in his arms.

The captain looks up at him, brows furrowed.

“I’m just really glad you’re safe,” Eren breathes, and Levi almost shudders.

He doesn’t want to ask about the others, not yet.

But it’s necessary.

“What happened?” Levi asks, ready for the worst. Eren tilts his head to the side and looks away, almost guiltily.

“I don’t know,” the brunet replies. “We got separated.”

To hope for the best or to hope for the worst...

For now they can do nothing but wait.

The captain closes his eyes and rests his head on Eren’s chest. Eren holds him close, hands firm on Levi’s back. Levi sees a flash of death in the rain, remembers the fear pooling in the back of his throat.

Perhaps one day he will lose Eren, but he won’t let that happen today. And he won’t let it happen for as long as he lives.

Eren hugs him tighter. He rests his chin on Levi’s head and Levi feels his warmth spreading through his skin. They’re both soaked and wet, but Eren’s heat is contagious.

They may be in titan territory with no clue as to where the rest of the Survey Corps is, yet Levi feels at peace.

The storm continues to rage about, but with the shade of the trees and Eren’s arms around him, Levi can almost breathe. When he closes his eyes and buries his nose in the boy’s chest he wants to fool himself that the wind doesn’t exist, that the titans will let them go, that his comrades are safe, that everything dark inside of him can dissipate like smoke.

He is exhausted. The captain is so, so tired, but there is only the two of them here.

Eren’s hands run absentmindedly over his back, over his neck, across his arms, through his wet hair. Levi grumbles, forming no real words, and Eren smiles and kisses the top of his head.

He doesn’t care that this might be irresponsible. There is something softer he needs right now, before he implodes, and Eren is by his side. Eren knows. Eren can tell.

“My first expedition almost went like this,” Levi finds himself saying, his voice low. Eren barely makes it out through the drone of the rain, but he presses his ear close.

“The weather,” Levi mutters. He refuses to meet the boy’s eyes, instead focusing on the imprint of Eren’s key from underneath his shirt.

 _Humanity’s Hope,_ he thinks wryly, and then _Humanity’s Strongest, what a joke._

“It was a storm just as bad as this one.” Levi continues. He swallows a dry lump in his throat.

Eren strokes Levi’s cheek, the curve of his jaw. Levi wonders why he’s saying this, why now out of all times. The darkness breeding in his gut is back, even with Eren’s warmth surrounding him, and he considers leaving the story at that.

Storms do horrible things. Storms conjure up bad memories. Levi’s entire existence, entire _reality_ , is a nightmare, but he’s not the type to cry about it.

He spares a glance at Eren and meets earnest green eyes. The boy looks tired, almost as tired as he is, and Levi wonders how Eren can still look at him like that. Look at him like he’d wait until the end of time just for him to continue, look at him like nothing else matters, like their comrades aren’t being eaten right this second—

Levi continues on, selfishly, because he wants Eren to hear the rest, no matter how brief.

Even if they do make it out alive, he’s not sure if he’ll ever want to share this again.

“And in the rain, I lost the only two people I could call friends. Because I left them,” Levi says. His voice barely cracks on the last two words. He admits it, finally admits it, and something nearly bursts in his chest.

“I hate this fucking storm,” he rasps out with a nervous chuckle. Concern flicks through Eren’s eyes and Levi hates it, hates that Eren’s such an open book, hates seeing him in pain because Levi is in pain, hates showing weakness like the shadow of a man he is.

But Eren holds the side of his face gently, gently, and Levi thinks he’s gone too soft. That’s what this is. He’s throwing up his nightmares into this boy’s lap.

Eren doesn’t deserve that, he thinks. Eren doesn’t deserve to carry the burden of Levi’s aches and pains.

The boy kisses him, dry lips innocently pressed against Levi’s own. The gesture makes him freeze, but soon enough he knows he only wants one thing.

Levi tugs the boy down by the back of his neck and presses his mouth against Eren’s as well, his own lips parting, forcing Eren’s mouth open.

He wants a hot, searing kiss, wet even though he hates being soaked in rainwater. He wants Eren’s tongue, and Eren’s body closer, closer. He wants those warm hands and that tiny whimper. It sends jolts down to his belly, and he feels like a horrible man, but Eren presses against him anyway, kissing back with a breathlessness that Levi will always remember.

Levi pulls himself up. He grinds against Eren’s hips and the boy gasps, clinging onto him harder. Eren grows hard; Levi can feel it through his trousers, and he smirks.

They’ve slowly begun to dry off, clothes no longer sticking so much to their skin. Still, Eren clings to Levi and grips the man’s lower back with enough strength that it almost hurts.

Levi grunts, aching for friction. He shivers for a moment, but then Eren wraps his legs around him and he’s warmer.

When Eren swallows, Levi bites softly at his neck. The captain grinds against him again, with perhaps too much force, but Eren groans, nails slipping against the back of Levi’s cloak.

The captain’s hips jerk upwards. They rut against each other, soft noises emerging from Eren’s mouth, so the captain kisses him, kisses him hard.

Eren squeezes the captain’s waist between his thighs. Levi wants to get rid of the fabric between them, wants to feel Eren’s cock, wants to pump him until he whimpers Levi’s name over and over, wants to fuck him properly.

But there’s no time for that, no need, and right now Levi is desperate. Eren groans, hands slipping dangerously low towards Levi’s ass, so the captain beats him to it and clenches Eren’s firm ass instead, pressing him closer.

“Captain—“ Eren gasps. Levi’s close, he’s so close to coming, so he feels Eren up through his trousers. He mouths at the boy’s collarbone, his neck, and Eren is hot and shivering against his tongue.

Eren comes with a gasp and Levi kisses him, properly on the mouth this time. Eren grips Levi’s thigh, jerks his hips up at that perfect angle, and Levi comes too, breathing against the boy’s mouth.

“Levi, Levi,” Eren pants, but Levi can’t make out the other words. The brunet exhales, peppering Levi’s mouth with distracted kisses. Levi shifts his legs until he’s more comfortable and runs a hand through Eren’s hair.

He feels so sticky now, but the sleepiness hits him hard.

 _This was a bad decision_ , Levi wants to say. But he looks up at Eren and sees the boy’s tousled brown hair, his red lips and his skewed collar. Eren grins at him, his bright eyes shining with fondness, and Levi ignores the warmth blooming through his chest.

“Horny teenagers,” Levi mutters without any heat. He kisses Eren again. The boy exhales sharply against his cheek.

“You started it,” is all that Eren says. He rubs his thumb in gentle circles over Levi’s jaw, and the older man leans into the touch.

“Let’s get some rest,” Levi suggests quietly. Eren smiles at him, dropping his hand to link his fingers with Levi’s own. The captain lets him, lips barely quirking upwards. “We should look for the others only after this storm dies down.”

Eren nods. He curls further up against the tree trunks. He practically radiates as he presses Levi against him. Levi snorts softly, crawling closer.

He pats Eren’s legs apart and sits in between them. The boy curls up around him, shielding Levi from any rain that might fall on them through the canopy of the leaves.

Levi closes his eyes. He buries his face in Eren’s chest and feels the boy’s heartbeat, strong and steady. They are quiet, breathing softly, and soon the beat of Levi’s pulse matches Eren’s own.

They are alive. They are together.

The captain rests, waiting for sunlight.


End file.
